Time Bomb
by loveatfirstterra
Summary: Derek and Meredith's love has been bottled up to this point, but how long can love be ignored? T just in case but prob. not
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not posses legal or financial rights to these characters and settings. These characters are owned by the creators and ABC, respectfully. Addison's Disease is a **real disease**, and although it is taken mostly seriously, it is obviously put in there for a joke, however it is no laughing matter. Please do not read into this story and take any comment more seriously than it is intended to be.

The four month anniversary of them being separated was coming. Derrick had counted the days, lying to Addison that he wanted to keep track of every day he spent with her. Derrick sat on the bed and rested his head on his hands – bending over in frustration. He used to respect marriage – which was ultimately why he stayed with Addison – but now, now he damned it. Meredith was dating his ex-best friend and he was losing faith in the relationship with Addison. He persuaded himself that if Meredith had to choose between him and Mark, she would choose him – but he knew that was a lie. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and turned to his dog –

"What am I going to do?" He asked desperately. The dog gave him a confused look,

"You and me both buddy," Derrick replied.

"Derrick, do you want breakfast?" His thoughts were interrupted by Addison.

"No," was his only reply, he hated himself for it. Addison was trying, but he had given up, and it was breaking her heart.

Meredith marked the date as 4 months in her diary – if she had looked she would have noticed that the only thing on every page for the past four months was how long she had been separated, but she did this sub-consciously.

"Meredith you want food?" She had taken Mark in after he collapsed drunk last night.

"I'm good, thanks," she replied. She thought of a Venn diagram. She drew one circle in her head, with Addison and Derrick. Then she drew one that partially overlapped, with her and Mark. She and Derrick were in the same oval. She smiled at this, and then let herself fall back onto her bed and pulled the sheet over her head. She knew if nothing happened soon, she would have to get more serious with Mark. Yes it was unfair, her just dating him for the hell of it, but what else could she do? Either seem desperate and hurt by never dating anyone again, or go on a rebound date – she obviously chose the latter.

"Mer - you gotta go to work," came a call from the kitchen – she looked over, she was late,

"Ohhh shoot!" She ran out the house, ignoring the attempt by Mark for a goodbye kiss. She got in the car and sped off without a second thought.


	2. Punishment and Insight

"I know I'm late!" The call came from an agitated person running through the door. Meredith's hair was uncombed and wild; she was struggling to get a shoe on.

"That's good that you know you're late, but I don't **care** whether you know you're late – I expect you to not be late." The harsh words from Bailey were typical. "Now you're working with Shepherd." Meredith felt this was harsh, Bailey knew that she was still upset of Derek, but this was her punishment.

"Uh …" Meredith began.

"You got a problem? Cause the door is right there," Bailey pointed towards the sliding doors. Meredith stared at the doors as 3 EMTs came in. It seems that those doors are a gateway to something new, you come in to be saved, you go out for freedom – you can't always have both. Was now her chance to escape? Perhaps all the saving had been done – she was distracted around Derek and Addison, hated by George, and hated her life in every way. Bailey was insulted by this.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" Just then the sliding doors again shut, and the light had burned out. Meredith momentarily forgot about the Shepherd situation and stared at the ground as she walked towards the board to see where she was to go.

"Can you believe this Burke-O'Malley thing," Christiana Yang and Meredith were having their scheduled talk, it wasn't really a conversation, just talk.

"Why would she do this to me, I'm just late, yet she puts me with the man that has tortured me in every way possible," Meredith "responds."

"I mean if I'm feeling uncomfortable, he should notice that – this is crazy."

"And now despite all of this …"

"What do you think of Burke – isn't he being unfair."

"I think I still love him."

"What?"

"Shepherd."

"Oh, uhh good luck with that," Christina tensely sighed and walked away.

"Hey Mer, Bailey tells me your with me today." Meredith looks at the board, points to the room number, and walks by him as if he wasn't there. Derek just half-grins and slowly breathes in and out. He runs to catch up with her."

"Well what does our patient have, or should I inform Dr. Bailey that you aren't doing your job?" Derek asks this skillfully, she's stuck with him and he's stuck with her – and he loves it. Meredith gives him a glare and opens the file, just then she grins.

"Well he complains of chronic fatigue, Nausea, Depression, and Irritability. Sounds like Addison's Disease." Derek spaced out for a millisecond and thought to himself – "Don't I know it".

"How do we treat him Dr. Grey?" Now he would begin flattering her, although she wouldn't care or notice.

"Well we obviously have to replace the missing cortisol, but in most situations it is a friend or lover that brings in the patient, not them themselves, which suggest that it's very serious, fludrocortisone may be necessary."

"You're inferring."

"Isn't that what my job is, discover the disease and treat it based on the evidence."

"Your job is to fix the patient," Derek jokingly argued.

"You can't fix anything if you don't identify the problem," and with that, they headed towards the room.


	3. Love

What is love? Is it care for another's wellbeing? Is it mutual lust? Or perhaps it is just love. Period. Love is love and nothing more or less, an indescribable feeling felt by two individuals. Is love preventable? No. It is not avoidable, or curable. It can be temporary though – love may fade, but whether it does or not has nothing to do with a lover's actions. Meredith's and Derek's love had not faded, and now they were feeling the effects of a starving love. The withdrawal symptoms were far worse than crack or alcohol. The inward pain and depression, the outward fatigue and irritability were only the beginning, for eventually, a starving love leads to a blood thirsty rage. But it never gets that far – love's victory doesn't take that long… (AN: My sad attempt at insight … I hate everything I write because I can't get the insight stuff).

With Bailey continually punishing Meredith for being late (for Mer was continually late), and Derek constantly having Meredith around, the two were letting their guard down. Soon Meredith was always coming late, Bailey's, "You're late, go with Shepherd," comment was becoming as routine as morning coffee; naturally the former couple loved this. It was like they were unconscious in the outside world; their life began at 7:00, and lasted until their patient was cured. Meredith became flirty, and Derek became the jokester he was before Addison arrived. Meredith's inevitable break up with Mark was no big deal, he had moved on anyway. Derek was stuck with Addison for the time being, but he knew the torture that was largely coming from his part would get the most of them sooner or later. A month later, the calendar and diary both read in large letters, "1 MONTH!"

(Ya, I know this is short – and I lied about that 3 month thing, the writers block faded – well then again that's for you to decide. Really the only goal of this chapter was to set it up for the end, this story should be done with in 1-2 chaps. Review please: O and a note to my reviewers: Thank you sooo much. The positive reviews are really encouraging, and the negative reviews still help me with my writing (this is my second fan fic, so I know many of you hate it, feel free to post that), and I appreciate both more than you can imagine. With luv, luvatfirstterra)


	4. THE WINNER IS

**BEFORE YOU READ THIS READ THIS:**

**THIS IS A VOTE, PLEASE SEND ME A MESSAGE WITH A "1" IN THE TEXT TO VOTE FOR THIS ENDING, IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THIS ENDING, READ THE NEXT ENDING (WHICH IS THE SAME EXCEPT ONE MINOR DETAIL) AND SEND A "2" IN THE TEXT!**

It was time. The stars were aligned, the chain reaction had begun, and now time was all too fast and all too slow at the same time for Derek. He was about to face up, and end two peoples misery with one action, killing two birds with one stone.

"I'm sorry." He began.

"Sorry for what?" She responded.

"I can't do this, not anymore, I thought the problems in our relationship would be solved, but it ended up being that the only problem was the relationship itself."

"Derek no, please …"

"I'm sorry. It's over. I'll never forget you, but I have to move on. This may seem like the weak thing to do, but you know it is for the best, and I am prepared to face any future challenges with the relationship I am left with, but in order for that to happen, this needs to end. Now. This conversation should have happened a long time ago, and you know that we are being tortured as a result of its delay. Let me go, live your life."

"Derek …" She sobbed in the hospital, on her knees, as he walked away, walked to the beautiful woman standing outside. The one who like anyone had made mistakes, but was there for him, the one that he truly loved.

"How'd she take it," was the first thing she said when he came out.

"She'll be fine – I hope," Derek stated.

"I love you Derek, and don't ever forget that, from this point on I will always be by your side." After all that they had gone through, Derek could not have been happier to finally honestly say out loud,

"I love you too – Meredith."


	5. LAST CHAPTER

I got a total of 22 reviews. They were all for Derek and Meredith, which is who I was secretly wishing for, but to everyone that sent me a message for 1: I didn't get it, same goes if you sent me a message for two. My email account somehow deleted fan fiction from allowed emails, so then I was like WAHHHH NO ONES REVIEWING MY STORY. But hey, all done now, either way, time to close it off …

I give you the final chapter of Time Bomb.

She left, it was finally over. Derek was somewhat disappointed in himself, for he could not have been more relieved that he was finally with the girl he held in his arms so long ago, the girl who had her heart broken by him, the girl who had her heart sewn together – by him.

Addison wouldn't dare talk to Derek. He hurt her in more ways than she could ever imagine. She sacrificed everything to finally be with the one she loved, and he rejected her, but not before giving her every sign of appreciation only in hopes of mocking her. On the plane she broke a mirror; the glass fell down and crashed against the bathroom floor. When the flight attendant finally unlocked the door it was too late. Her throat had been slit by her own depression.

Meredith hugged Derek for weeks, unfortunately, when he asked her to marry him she jumped up and down, releasing her grip, but no worries, for three seconds later her arms were around him again – where they always should have been.

Upset over Addison, and angry at Derek for indirectly killed her (as he phrased it), Mark came to get Meredith back. While Derek was on a trip he got into a drunk rage he went to rape her. The next morning when the police came he had been severely beaten and had multiple broken bones, Meredith didn't have a scratch on her.

Bailey was – well still Bailey, but somewhat happier. She occasionally smiled at Meredith.

And almost as if it was exactly following Meredith's knight in shining armor dream, she and Derek …

Lived happily ever after.


End file.
